Sunset's Downfall
by tomato-box
Summary: Dark falls upon the one in light. A vampire hunter of the Main Branch, Hinata finds herself falling into the dark and mysterious word of the Branch House's heir; Neji Hyuuga. A conspiracy is afoot, and Neji and Hinata are pitted unwillingly into the dark.
1. Chapter 1 Inevitability's Psychosis

**Story: Sunset's Downfall**

**Author: Dizzy-Sauce**

**Rating: T **

**Pairing: NejiHina (NejixHinata) **

Hello there! I'm tomato-box, a fairly new writer here! I've already got a story here, but unfortunetely its on hiatus, as I've lost the following chapters in a computer crash. Until I can be bothered, I'l be stalling it. Sorry D:

I've read a few fanfics of myself, and I have many authors here I admire :D I'm an especially big fan of NejiHina, and they're probably my most read fanfics. Unfortunately, not everyone likes NejiHina, but it happens, you can't expect everyone to like your OTP. I have too many OTPs D: So I really wanted to write of my OTP and I'll hope you'll read it regardless of your likes and dislikes and perhaps enjoy it :)

Anyway, my story isn't the best one written, but I do like to write, so I can only do my best! So , if you do happen to like my story, please review! I would really love at least one, or two, or lots!

Um, I forgot to mention this is an AU, but it doesn't stray too far from the main story line, so maybe it's a parody? I don't know! But Naruto doesn't belong to me, if it did, I would have had Sasuke hit with the fork of common sense by now. He's just fail in a can really.

Oh, this is a vampire fic too by the way, so I'm going to have much of the ninjutsu and stuff fall into magic, if that's ok :D

* * *

_My chest heaves as blood drips from my mouth, setting my already bloodied teeth on edge as I watch his gaze drift from my naked chest and into my fearful, expectant wide eyes. _

_His eyes are white, rimming the irises with a brilliant bright red._

_His non-existent pupils focus on my neck, laced with playfully-made bite-marks, saturating my skin with a red as brilliant as his eyes. _

_He leans in. I shudder convulsively as his lips close over my neck, puncturing my skin, drawing blood._

_My eyes close. Everything blacks out. _

_I wonder, as the darkness closes in, am I going to die? _

_I embrace it, for surely death can't be this sweet._

* * *

"Hinata, stand up."

A stern voice breaks the silence as a pale woman, with hair dark as the night, attempts to pull herself from the ground, panting heavily, kunai in hand.

"Hinata, I said _stand up_." The harsh voice said again, impatience slipping into his deep tone. "Raise yourself from the ground. You call yourself a Hyuuga?"

The woman known as Hinata gritted her teeth, cutting off any further pants. Tears blurred her vision and she hastily wiped them away with a shaky, bloodied hand.

A familiar blonde figure slipped into her mind, grinning. She smiled weakly.

_I will not lose to him. I will become strong, become acknowledged by him._

"You are our heir. My daughter, the representative of the Main House! You cannot afford to show such weakness! Not in the face of the Branch House's Heir!"

The Branch House's Heir. Neji Hyuuga.

The prodigy of the Branch House, heir to it's malignant brilliance. He had inherited the most, the very best of the Hyuuga talent.

He was also a vampire.

Hinata remembered the first time she saw him. It was her third birthday, the day of when the Main House announced it's heir. It had been a brief encounter. Though the Branch House did not care to so unashamedly show off it's heir, the Main House was no so bereft as to pass up such a chance to flaunt it's brilliance.

Hyuuga Hinata, the dainty little beauty of the Main House.

She remembered a small, brown-haired boy, his gaze held hers in a haughty manner, smiling at her without shame. He whispered words too his father as she blushed, hiding in her father's kimono.

She remembered the sad look in his eyes as he gazed upon his son.

That was the last and only time she saw Neji's father. Her father's brother. Her uncle.

Her enemy.

The Main and Branch House had been enemies since the founding of Konoha.

The Branch, a deviant race of vampires, elite in their services for the village, wily in their hunting in the village.

And the Main, who so subtly hunted them.

Hinata, the heir to that house.

Of course Neji was her enemy. Of course she hated him.

Of course...right?

Hinata sighed. Pulling herself to full height now. Straightening herself, she brushed herself down. It was her opinion, that it was only a cruel slice of fate that separated the two houses, those houses which once were one.

As heir to the Main House, she had never once hunted and killed a vampire.

As heir to the Main House, it was her duty to ensure the death of the heir of the Branch House.

As heir to the Main House, it was for her to kill Neji Hyuuga.

Her cousin.

She breathed once, then charged.

* * *

It was late evening, a quiet night in Konoha. People chattered excitedly, utterly absorbed, totally engrossed, not noticing that something was afoot tonight. Something not right.

"Hinata," a gruff, friendly voice came, breaking her train of thought. "Pay attention, I'm still talking."

"Ah, I'm sorry Kiba-kun!" Her voice pleaded apologetically, frantic. "I was just... thinking."

"Yeah, what's got you all wrapped up?" Kiba inquired, worried. "You've been away with it all night, you seem really tense. And you keep looking around, like you're looking for someone. Who are you hoping to see, anyway?"

"She's distracted," Came another voice, quieter this time, softer than Kiba's, more consoling somehow. "How do I know this? Because she's had a hard day, it can be seen in her eyes."

"Rrrrright." Kiba commented sarcastically. "Nothing get's by you, does it Shino?"

Hinata giggled lightly, then twisted her head sharply to the left.

_There's one of them here tonight... and... two humans? _

"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba asked, sounding very far away. "Is... something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, n-nothing, nothing's wrong." She said quickly, blushing and avoiding eye-contact. She knew this presence; she could only guess who the two humans were also.

He was close now, a few twenty feet away, and getting closer, making a beeline for them. She could feel his suppressed frustration, his anger. Hinata shuddered, suddenly frightened.

"L-lets go, I'm hungry, l...let's get something to eat, why don't we?" Hinata asked, shaking, her voice urgent. Memories were flooding in, clouding judgement, forsaking vision.

_Face down. The ground at her fingertips. _

_And erratic heartbeat. A cruel voice. Encouraging words. _

_Blood, lots of it. More anger. _

_He was scared now. _

_One hit was all it would take now. She could barely stand. But she did anyway. Words came, poisoning his mouth, rolling from his lips. Cursing her. Hating her._

"_No, Neji-nii-san, you are the one who is suffering."_

_More blurring scenes, he ran towards her, angry. All was hazy now. She was aware of a crowd between them, but she paid them no notice. _

_A pain in her heart. _

"_Did I change... a little?" She asked the blonde one in my head. "Even a little?"_

_All was dark now. _

"Please, let's go," She urged them, he was too close now. "L-Let's go."

"Don't leave on my part. You only just got here after all." A cold voice came, heard so long ago, yet so definable, she knew it instantly. She heard his voice every night. In every dream. "Hinata-sama..."

She froze, her eyes wide, instantly speculative, instantly scared. She turned on the spot, slowly, turning her head, her hair falling over her shoulders, she heard his sharp intake of breath. She heard his heartbeat pick up and even faster beat than what was already abnormal. She could feel her heart pounding, feeling it in her throat, her chest, everywhere.

"Hinata...?" Came a voice, so far away now. She could not hear the worry in her friend's tone.

"Ne...Neji...Neji-nii-san..." Her voice sounded, trembling as she mouthed the syllables, so alien to her, yet so very known.

She turned to face him, eyes wide.

Her face grew set as she watched his eyes widen also. The world was shut off to them. And all was seen.

She could see the wrath in his eyes, the infinite hate he harboured for her, the bloodlust that lay dormant in his eyes now. Yes, she knew what he was, and he knew it. He knew it was her duty to kill him, and he taunted her for it. She knew, as he knew, that she could not possibly defeat him, never mind kill him. She had heard of the countless missions he had successfully accomplished, how revered and admired he was in the village. Hinata could not think to kill him. Yet she had to. She had to.

She could not look into his eyes, with all its conflicting emotions, shining as they did now; she wondered what he was thinking. She wondered for herself, as heir to the Main House, what his duty as heir to the Branch House was to her?

She remembered as her mother used to tell her, how in the olden days that the Hyuuga houses lived as one, a long time ago, but in cruel injustice.

The Branch House was made to serve the Main House as the Main basked themselves in a seemingly never-ending superiority. They branded the Branch with a terrifying mark, made to bend the 

unwilling to their line of thinking, to force them into submission. A terrifying jutsu which, when activated caused great pain and if prolonged, it even meant death.

It was cruel. And the Branch knew it to be so. They broke off, the other, supposedly lesser of the two branches of the famed Hyuuga clan disappeared, into the night.

It was said that they Branch went to the Uchiha clan, the prestigious vampire clan, feared for their meticulous eye-techniques, of which no one lived to tell the story of.

The Main Branch, in it's fury cast of it's ties, and proceeded to hunt them down, to kill those who were once family.

It was a practice that became tradition, and family proceeded to kill family each day.

She vaguely heard the two at Neji's sides engage Kiba and Shino in conversation. She stared for another second into his eyes, and watching, ever so slowly, she watched the edges of his white irises fade into red. Her eyes widening, she broke off eye contact. She felt her face pale and then her cheek colour red in fear.

Distantly, hazily, she heard the black haired one at Neji's left suggest they should ALL head for something to eat.

'_What,'_ Hinata felt her lips mouth. _'What what what'_

Hinata pleaded with all her soul that Kiba and Shino should refuse. _'Oh god, please say no' _

"Sure!" She heard Kiba say, a bounce on his feet. "I'd quite do for some yakisoba right now, beef, I think, what about you, Shino?"

Shino shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

"All right then." The brown-haired girl who hadn't spoken yet announced from Neji's right. "My name's Tenten by the way, you probably don't know me, but you might have recognized me from the chuunin exams, maybe?"

"Yeah, we remember you, with that Temari chick, right?" Kiba remarked, grinning now. "Yeah, I remember that, you lost pretty badly, didn't you?"

She nodded, smiling shyly. "Yeah, that was me. But if I remember right, you didn't exactly do great either; you lost to that Uzumaki kid, right?

Hinata kept her gaze on the ground, her face hidden by her hair, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She could feel his gaze burning into her, and she knew he wasn't listening to their friends bickering either, forming friendships.

"I think we should go now." Shino said quietly, his gaze training on Hinata, worried, even though it didn't colour his tone. She was behaving strangely.

"Yes!" An exuberant voice broke out, his tone melodious, searing, cutting through her like a hot knife. She had met him before. Rock Lee. He was so nice it hurt. "We'll make it there in two minutes, to the noodle cafe we go!"

And he was off.

"Oi, Leeee!" She heard Tenten call, chasing after him. Kiba grinned, setting a pace and walking in pursuit. Shino followed on, two paces behind. Still watching her, Neji slowly followed, leaving Hinata standing alone.

"Hey, Hinata, are you coming or what?" Hinata heard Kiba call over the crowd. She looked up sharply, and realised there were tears in her eyes. She hastily wiped them away with the cuff of her sleeve. "Hinata!"

"Y-yes!" One quick look up, and he was staring. "I-I'm coming!"

In her room that night Hinata played over the night's events over and over in her head as she stared into the ceiling. It had no been an enjoyable night for her. During the whole course of the meal, Neji had stared at her from across the table as she tried to eat her udon.

She never finished her dish.

* * *

Hinata scared herself with all the possibilities as to why he should stare at her so much. It unsettled her, thinking of how intense his gaze was, unerring as it was, he never once looked down to see his chopsticks pick up the greasy noodles from it's bowl. She tried hard not to look up, so very hard. But it was impossible, she would peak up from beneath her eyelashes to find his ever unwavering stare on her. She didn't like it. They way he looked at her went against both House's code of conduct! How could he breach it like this? Uncomfortable now, Hinata shifted in her covers, and turned to her side, and stared out of the window. She sighed, and let herself fall into a fitful, restless sleep.

He haunted her, even in her dreams.

He came to her in her special place, in her dreams, and stalked in places no one else could go. She found herself falling into his eyes, a vivid white, with their red lacings, she found herself pulled to him.

She dreamt many things that night, finding herself falling further and further into demise, _into him._

She wanted it to go faster. _Fasterfasterfaster._ She wanted it to never end.

And it scared her.

She woke up with a gasp and threw herself forward, unsettling the quiet in the night. Her breath came in quiet, but heavy gasps and her eyes were wide in fear... and something else?

She shifted in her place, to realise that her pants were now soaked through to her robes and so she got up to change still disconcertingly unsettled. Sliding the door open carefully, a new robe and underwear in hand, she padded quietly into the hall and off into a corridor which would take her to her new bathroom. Wide awake now, she changed, and proceeded into the main Hyuuga halls, and crossed into the washroom, quiet so as not to wake anyone. She lay her clothes in the appropriate pile, and without thinking, she passed on into the kitchen switched on the small light and broke down into tears.

Morning.

Morning meant breakfast, and breakfast meant eating with the family. Hinata didn't like her family. She didn't wish to face up to that this morning and thus, Hinata skipped breakfast and went out to train, heading straight through the forest and to her favourite training spot. Her favourite tree was there. It calmed her to look at it and she found herself hugging it appreciatively and letting it's rough bark cut into her face drawing blood.

She slid down slowly, sitting down upon the ground, more cuts on her face now. She was crying again.

He was in her tree. He was in the droplets of water in her shower. He was in her food. He was in her mind. He was _everywhere. _

No matter what she did, he was always there, plaguing her thoughts, an invasion to her mind, a sore incursion to her spirit, an infiltration, upon her body, though no marks showed. _Yet._ She sorely thought. She knew how he looked at her, and she recognized it for what it was.

He wanted her, all of her. Her mind, her spirit, her body... _her blood._ And she knew, despite of herself, that she wanted him too.

* * *

Four and half hours later, Hinata returned to the Main Branch Household, glistening with perspiration and utterly exhausted. She had pushed herself further than ever, and despite her obvious fatigue, she smiled in spite of herself, proud of her achievement. Her father, on the other hand, didn't quite share her feelings.

"Hinata, where have you been?" He demanded, the instant she set foot into the main doorway. It was obvious to Hinata that he had been waiting for her, standing in the main training area, glaring imperiously upon her, his white eyes glinting menacingly. "Why were you not at breakfast?"

She knew it was not out of worry that he asked her this, but out of pride. As leader of the clan, it was his very intention that his family all be present at breakfast to convey unto the rest of the Main Branch how utterly supreme and superior the leader's family was. It did not appeal to Hinata how unreservedly supercilious her father could be; even to his own family. To her.

"I...I went out to train..." Hinata said hesitantly; suddenly very conscious of the ticking vein of her father's eyebrow as he raised it in a dictatorial manner. "I..I thought it would be good...t-to see how missing out on breakfast would affect my training, so to say... it didn't make much difference...really..."

Hiashi's eyebrows raised to an amazing height before lowering again, falling into his usual indifferent expression. Hinata sighed inwardly, but straightened up all the same. She couldn't afford to show any weakness now.

"Well, whatever," He said, waving a hand in an unsympathetic manner and looking away. "Just don't miss out on breakfast again, or any meal at that, without consulting me first. If you're going to train, have someone to train with; Perhaps Hanabi, or myself if I'm not busy with anything important."

He paused, thinking again. "On that note, have you gotten around to taking out _that_ task yet?" His gaze returned to meet hers, cruel in its steadiness. Hinata hesitated.

"N-no father..." Hinata mumbled, her eyes trained upon a rock on the ground, she kicked it meekly. "I-I have not had the chance..."

Hiashi grunted apathetically. "Hurry up with it, you're nearly 18 now, we don't want something inconvenient happening, like you marking on him or something."

_Inconvenient._

Yes, Hinata knew what it was. She knew what had happened. She could not kill him now.

"F-father, what if I don't succeed? What is his task?" She demanded abruptly, as he turned away, not uninterested. "What... what, as heir... t-to the Branch House...What is his duty? What is he meant to do... to me? Is he... to k-kill me?"

He voice shook as she mouthed out the last verb. Hiashi did not turn, hard and uncaring in her trepidation.

"Should you not succeed... he will bite you, and you will be like him, like _them._" He pronounced the last word with such venom that his voice shook with it. "Do not let that happen. If such a situation should arise, kill yourself first. I will not have a vampire for a daughter."

And with that, he walked away.

That was it then, he would rather have her...dead than alive, as a vampire, yes, but alive! Hinata didn't think her father cared if she lived her not. She had always secretly suspected that her father wished her dead, so that her sister, Hanabi take up the role as leader.

Her sister, who once was stronger than her. Hinata wouldn't let that happen again. She wanted to be seen by her father, be recognized for what she was! Even an upgrade to chuunin failed to get much attention from him. Hinata sighed, and once again trooped out of the household.


	2. Chapter 2 Difficulty's Acquiescience

It had been a week.

A slow, painful week, and she found herself pining for an unknown something. She felt empty, _incomplete._ One piece of whole. She wondered how many pieces were a part of that whole.

She spent more time with her team than usual. They said nothing of it, thinking only that she wanted more training. She trained endlessly, forever exhausted, _forever tired._

But she would not sleep. _She could not sleep. _Every night she tossed restlessly, forbidding herself to relax, even for a second. She wore uncomfortable, tight, itchy jumpers; so she scratched, uncomfortable and hot. She drank lots of water; trooping to the toilet at least twice each night. She left the curtains open, letting the light pour in; allowing her no darkness to take refuge in.

_No mercy. _

But still, still she found herself dropping off, and in those mere moments, those mere seconds, she saw his face, his eyes, his mouth. _Everything. _How she hated it, how she loved it. They were in perfect balance; those emotions. She pushed herself from him, even when she saw him not, yet the more she pushed, the more she was drawn in each time.

She could not understand, she could not comprehend how utterly consuming it was, he was. And she had not seen him once! There would be no chance meetings, she had decided. She would not let herself see him. She avoided late-night dinners with friends.. She made sure she should not pass by the Branch Household, needing to see him, yet wanting to see him not. The emotions conflicted so painfully, Hinata found herself crying often.

She was a vampire hunter, yet stupidly, foolishly, ever so _inconveniently_, she had fallen in love with him, Hyuuga Neji, the vampire.

Hinata has heard of marking, it happened occasionally, she knew it was becoming less and less common, even less common for a vampire to mark on a hunter. It just wasn't done.

She knew how the marked –_me_, Hinata thought bitterly- fell utterly and irrevocably in love with said vampire, falling into his trap. And in every occurrence, in every marking, the marked became like the marker. A _vampire. _

Hinata shuddered convulsively.

'"_Should you not succeed... he will bit e you, and you will be like him, like them." He pronounced the last word with such venom that his voice shook with it. "Do not let that happen. If such a situation should arise, kill yourself first. I will not have a vampire for a daughter."'_

Hinata was already a failure in her father's eyes, it mattered not that she could become even more of a failure to him. If that were possible.

"-Don't you think so Hinata?" A sweet voice broke through her chain of thoughts.

Hinata looked up. "Huh?" She stared into a sweet face, her white eyes heavily lidded, kind as they blinked, fluttering like a butterfly's wings. Hinata could not remember her name, a second cousin? Twice removed, she thought. Or was it only once?

"I was just saying how much you're improved over that last year. You're really picked up, you work so hard, child! I've been watching you training you see, I'm old, so you can't imagine I have much else interesting to do. Actually, I've been thinking of suggesting that you perhaps think of entering the jounin exams? It would be a great way of boosting your lifestyle, you train so much, dear, you should put that kind of hard work into something else."

Hinata vaguely noticed Hiashi's hand stop as he raised a cup to his mouth.

"I was a jounin myself, back when I was young of course," She chortled lightly, he face creasing with her smile. Hinata thought it was a remarkable sight. Her face seemed to hold all that she had once seen. "I was elevated to a Hunter Nin, in my late twenties, I was very handy, what with my Byakugan and all, I remember, in the war with the land of lightening..."

Hinata wasn't listening now, a jounin...her? Very few in her age group were jounin, she knew Kiba and Shino would be taking the test, but...

A jounin... The more Hinata thought about it, the more it appealed to her. _M-maybe... just maybe, if I train extra hard, and with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun's help... A jounin..._

She could finally prove to her Dad that she was not useless after all! That she was worth something... Hinata sighed happily, closing her eyes and exhaling deeply.

Hinata interrupted the old woman as politely as she could, urging her from her bubbly train of conversation.

"I-If you could excuse me, I have to meet my teammates now, f-for training..." She blushed, gazing at the ground. Her father resumed with his breakfast. The woman nodded, smiling wishing her regards and resumed talking, catching her neighbour in conversation. She bowed gracefully and walked quickly from the room.

* * *

"Ah, Hinata! You're late!" Came a friendly, distinct womanly voice from ahead. Hinata rushed into the clearing. "That' strange, you've been abnormally early lately! Were you caught up at breakfast?"

Hinata mumbled something about sleeping in, something Kurenai regarded with great interest, and suspicion. Hinata clearly hadn't slept at all. She wondered briefly when the last time she _had_ slept was_. _

"Hmm," Kurenai began before clearing her throat. "Alright everyone there's no training today. We've to meet Godaime-sama, and then you can all go home, and leave it at that."

"But, Kurenai-sensei..." Hinata began, unsure now, she couldn't _not_ train. Without training, she had _time. _Time to think. And she knew what she would be thinking about, given the chance. But she wouldn't give herself that chance.

"_And leave it at that._" Kurenai repeated, her voice pronounced and stern. No questions. "Hinata, you look as though you haven't slept in a week, and I know how hard you train. Your body can't deal with it, Hinata; you're going to have to rest sometime. And that begins today."

Hey gaze was steady, firm and unyielding. "We'll report here tomorrow," Kurenai began again, striking up a new topic. "On the dot, and Hinata, I want to see you here refreshed, well-slept, do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes..." Hinata replied, caught. She lowered her gaze to the ground, and pushed her fingers together, suddenly embarrassed.

Kurenai nodded with certainty, one hand now on her hip. "All right then, let's get going."

* * *

Walking towards the offices now. Hinata stared out of the many red-rimmed windows, staring into the village buildings as they passed by, a blur, as she gazed without blinking, no thoughts passing her by.

"Oof." Hinata protested quietly, her face buried into a smooth green thing. She took a step back, rubbing her nose. Oh, it was only Shino. "Ah... Shino-kun...sorry." She murmured, her gaze on the ground now.

"We're here now," Shino remarked, appearing not to have noticed. He walked on, following Kiba and Kurenai into a large dilapidated door that led into the Hokage's main office. Hinata sighed and entered the room, her eyes downcast.

There were other people in the room, besides herself and her team. There appeared to be two other teams. Hinata recognized the first team as team 7, composing of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and their latest edition: Sai. Team 8 had been on a few missions with team 7, something Hinata was always excited to do.

She glanced from beneath her eyelashes, watching the blonde one, the one who she so admired grin as he passed a joke to his revered team member; Haruno Sakura. She knew Sakura quite well; she knew her well as a medic ninja of Konoha Hospital. She had a wide reputation there; admired as revered medic, feared for her awesome temper.

Hinata smiled gently. Sakura was also known to her as the object of Naruto's affections. She wondered where Sai fitted into the equation. She had never seen him speak before, but he always stood there, smiling softly, glad to be a part of the special relationship that came as being a part of Team 7.

Hinata swiftly glanced at the other side of the room and felt her heart stop.

Hyuuga Neji. Here. _O-On a mission... w-with me...? No... _

Hinata raised her eyes momentarily from the floor to catch his gaze on her. She froze. She watched his eyes drift from the pale pallor of her cheeks, to the dark circles underlining her white, shining eyes. Hinata noticed herself that he also seemed to share similar features, though the circles were not so dark.

Had he not slept either?

Hinata dropped her gaze. Did vampires sleep? Hinata found herself pondering over the whole meeting, not listening to a word the Godaime said. She did not even notice the hot criticizing, feared gaze upon her.

"Alright, that's it for today!" She heard the curt voice of Tsunade bark. Hinata looked up, confused. Lord, had she missed the whole thing? "Meet here tomorrow on the dot; I'll dispatch no scrolls to those who are late!"

She gave an offish bow, and piled out of the room with the rest of her team. She heard three other sets of feet follow on behind them. One team had stayed behind. She hoped it was Team Gai who had stayed.

"Oi, team 8!" Came a cheerful female voice. Tenten. No such luck then. "Fancy another dinner?"

"Tenten, it's 10;00." Came a deep tenor voice. Hinata shuddered again, refusing to turn around, as the others stopped. Hastily she tried to engage Kurenai in conversation. But there was no such luck.

"Let's try for a lunch then," She heard Kurenai say, cutting through Hinata's weak mutterings. "I'm starving, what about you, Gai? Fancy a lunch? Both teams together? We're having a mission tomorrow anyway, wouldn't hurt to get to know each other."

"I agree, my blossoming sensei," Gai replied enthusiastically. "How is your son?"

Hinata stopped listening. She was cursing in her head, perhaps she could excuse herself from lunch? Make up some story about a lunch with the Main House? Sounded good. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Oi, Hinata, you're coming right?" Kiba announced over the babbling crowd. "For lunch, that is? Come on, it'll be fun."

Hinata felt her face heat up with all the eyes she felt on her now reddening face. She faltered. Hinata knew herself that she didn't have the personality to refuse lunch with friends so readily. She paused, then sighed.

"A-Alright then..." Kiba gave a curt appreciative nod and proceeded to stomp on down the hall. Tenten and Lee caught up with him quickly, leaving Shino, Hinata and Neji in the following group, Kurenai and Gai preceding them, talking excitedly about children.

Hinata sighed, and made to lead the group, but shivered as felt Neji fall in beside her, and Shino at her other side. They walked in silence, all without the catalyst for conversation. She knew Shino was more than happy in silence, but she couldn't escape the oppressive atmosphere of the other, darker, white-eyed man on her side. She could hear his breathing, his heartbeat. He kept brushing against her arm, her leg. Each time she trembled, feeling the quake shake through every bit of her. She could almost hear his smirk.

He was... _enjoying_ himself.

Hinata again and again attempted to steer away from him, and create some space, but each time, her just pressed closer and closer, causing Hinata's breath to come in short gasps, disorientating her.

Unsettled, they arrived at a small cafe on the corner of a quiet street. Tenten shortly announced it was her favourite eatery, she enjoyed the peace and quiet, it seemed. But this seemed perfectly natural, her eccentric teammate and teacher seemed to always give her cause to seek tranquillity.

Hinata knew the feeling. Eyeing Kiba, she smiling lightly as he bantered with a waiter, impatient at their lack of accommodation for the large dog wagging his tail and whining at his side.

Eventually, the waiter subsided and gave in, and allowed Akamaru to shimmy under the table and stay there. Smiling again, she slid into her seat next to Shino, only to be joined by Neji, who also slid in, taking up a place on Hinata's right. Hinata felt her stomach take a back-flip and her face fell.

He was too close.

She felt the bench groan as extra weight, which came in the from of Rock Lee flopped down next to Neji unaware of the discomfort that was created. She so wished Kiba had sat next to her as she watched him pull in beside Tenten from the opposite side of the table, who now sat across from her next to Kurenai.

Hinata thought to herself bitterly how she now hated benched tables. She sighed noisily, only to receive a speculative glance from Shino who asked her what was wrong.

"Ah...n-nothing." She said hastily, careful to keep herself subtly twisted away from Neji, who only pushed on closer. "I'm, uh...I-I'm just thinking." She forced a weak smile onto her face, but Shino wasn't convinced.

"What are you smiling at, Neji?" She heard Tenten inquire from the other side of the table. Hinata blushed even deeper. She felt Neji shift in his place, but didn't move away from her. Hinata tried to cross the leg closest to Neji over her left leg, only to hit Akamaru, who whined softly.

Neji's leg spread over further to lean on her leg shortly after she crossed it over. "Hmm? Nothing, I was just thinking of the mission tomorrow, and how exciting the prospect is of making new friends."

Leg rubbing now.

"I totally agree with you Neji!" Gai's voice sounded loudly and enthusiastically in his reply. "Nothing like making friends, right Kurenai-sensei?"

Kurenai smiled in agreement. Hinata could only grimace. She shifted again, but it didn't change anything. She just hoped his hands wouldn't venture under the table, as she eyed them wearily, stable in his crossed arms.

More babbles of conversation. She quietly took her order when a waiter arrived at the table, dressed intricately in red robes, her sleeves pushed up carefully. She caught her eyeing Neji with a kind of greedy look. Neji paid her no mind, reading off his order dully, the menu placed in his hand intricately.

Hinata excused herself, and ran off to the toilet.

* * *

The meal, as last time, had not been enjoyable. Not even a little. After dinner, when they separated, Neji had confronted her. Hinata shuddered violently from the memory, warm as she was under her many covers, she could not escape him.

"_Hinata-sama," A cold voice sounds from behind her. Hinata froze, turning slowly on the spot. No guesses who that voice belonged to. Shudders as she faced him, his face alight with a cruel smirk. He knew what was between them. _

_A gasp as he disappeared. Another as he reappeared in front of her, pinning her to the wall. Short breaths as she realises they are alone. Alone in a small alleyway. He had his chance; would he take it?_

_Whimpers lace her heavy breathing, her fear for her life, her _humanity. _Tears bud and fall, dripping onto his hand as he cups her face, pulling it roughly to face him._

"_Look at me," He demands, his tone utterly commanding. Hinata whines feebly as her eyes connect with his, both as brilliantly white as the others'. "You know what it is that's between us now," He leans in, taking up her entire vision. She can't look away. More moans of fear. "Are you scared? You know it's something you can't just ignore... Just like you have ignored me all these years...Too scared to look me in the eye... Perhaps if you had just paid attention, this would never have happened... _Perhaps.

_He grips her face more tightly, pulling her in, then pushing her away again, taking a step back. He is angry now. "I didn't ask for this. I knew I was liable to marking. But to mark on you..." His voice his hostile, unforgiving. Hinata grips the wall in fear, seeking comfort in it's cold hardness. "It was unexpected. Unwanted. I knew that one day I was going to have to bite you, to do what my father failed to do... to prevent you," He pointed along pale finger at her. "From doing what your _father_ had failed to do."_

_Hinata held her breath, tears flowing freely now. Her eyes were wide, and breath came in short, painful gasps, lacing each whimper of fear, each moan of despair. She closed her eyes, hoping, wishing he would just go away. Disappear with the darkness now dominating her vision. _

"_To kill me..." His words were taunting, cruel in their sarcasm, snide in cynicism. She could do nothing now. Except break down and cry and hope it would come quick. Words poured into her mind as she quietly pulled a kunai from its pouch. _

'"Should you not succeed... he will bite you, and you will be like him, like them." He pronounced the last word with such venom that his voice shook with it. "Do not let that happen. If such a situation should arise, kill yourself first. I will not have a vampire for a daughter."'

_She choked as a small sob escaped her lips, scared for her life. Could she kill herself? Could she rip herself away from those she held dear? Faces passed by her eyes, all whispering her name. She smiled in spite of herself. Wondering. Just... wondering. _

_Neji's words were unheard to her, she vaguely noticed that he was speaking. She was not looking at him. His eyes flickered to her closed ones. She did not notice the halt in his conversation. Only the kunai in her hand. She raised it. _

_And it was stopped._

"_And what do you plan to do with that?" Neji asked, his voice cold, all traces of amusement gone now. His eyes fell to the kunai and he noticed how it was pointed inwards. Facing Hinata. "Ah... So you plan to kill yourself? And by whose order is that? Hiashi's?" _

_He grinned malevolently as her eyes widened. "Of course I know your father, I know everything about him. It is my every intention to assassinate him in my father's honour." _

_Hinata's fearful expression was tainted faintly by curiosity and then to horror for her father's sake. "W-what... M-my...f-father...?"_

"_Yes..." He smirked, amused again. "Your father. My father died at your father's hand when I was four. Rather, he died because of your father. But that is a story for another time. Nothing you say will stop me killing him. I doubt you would care either way, would you? From what I know, your relationship with your father is far from hospitable, am I right?" _

_Hinata struggled in his grip, his grasp on her wrist tightened and the kunai fell from her hand, cutting her finger on its fall. Hinata winced, her eyes on her hand, she tried to pull it towards her, but no movement was allowed. Her gaze shook as it trailed back to his face, and then her eyes widened in horror as she watched his eyes glimmer with red. She shook violently now, and with her free arm, she battered against his chest. But he paid no mind, his eyes examining her hand, as a small trail of blood flowed from her index finger and onto his hand. He was shaking now, leaning in, so close... too close... He stretched out a hand..._

_Hinata hit him harder, but it was of no use. He didn't even seem to notice her hand smashing into his face outlined with her fearful cries. _

"_No... No, no, NO!" She screamed. "PLEASE! Stop! I beg of you! I'll do anything!"_

_His gaze flickered. Hinata paused. "Please... don't..." She was begging now. Neji hesitated, his hand wavering in its stead, halfway to her neck. "P-Please... a-anything... I'll do anything..." _

_Neji slowly and painfully ripped his gaze from the hand pouring the blood that was so obliquely consuming his senses. His stare was unfocused, distracted, and unclear as he stared at her. "Anything?" _

_Hinata gulped, then nodded slowly, confirming his question. He let go of her wrist and straightened up as she snatched her hand to her chest, sucking the blood of her hand, and wrapping it in a material she retrieved from her essentials pouch. Shaking, she pulled the final knot together, and rested it in her other hand. She kept her gaze on the ground, scared for herself now, _but better that_, she thought, _than my humanity_._

_Neji gazed at her speculatively, as though he could hear her thoughts. He looked her up and down, thinking. Anything, she had said. Anything... He was smirking now, possibilities and ideas zooming back and forth in his brilliant mind. His smirk broke into a grin. Easy enough what he wanted from her... But what about for her? What to do, what to do? So many ideas... _

_He cleared his throat, still dizzy and vague, the smell of her blood still on the tip of his senses. He couldn't think clearly. He wasn't used to such elusive thoughts. "Humph, well, that's something for me to decide... I'll determine my choice for you tomorrow I should think... The mission tomorrow; come early. The mission should last only a day, I'll decide then when we arrive."_

He left her then in the alley, alone, scared, shaking,_ human. _


End file.
